This past Tuesday, November 16, our class was visited again by four Springhill College senior nursing students. We received our fifth lecture on childhood obesity with this week focusing on outside factors relating to obesity. Our guests identified and explained different factors including family, environment, medications, culture, education/poverty, and sleep. Family
Food purchased
Habits
Genetics
Athletic involvement
Parental Perception of Children's eating habits
Food as rewards/ taking away food as punishment
Environment
Food deserts
Lack of Parks
Weather-Induced Stress
Type of Restaurants
Safety of Area
Bike Paths in Area
Sidewalks in Area
Culture
Social media “promotes” obesity (Bid-Boned; PHAT; #BodyPositivity)
Different groups are naturally bigger
Some cultures don't care about size/support it
Hispanic women prefer thin figures for themselves but larger for their children
Different cultures eat different food
Education/Poverty
Lower income families can't afford more expense foods
Less food education in lower income school zones
Not worried about food purchased but that there is food
High-poverty areas have less parks/recreational centers or schools that don't support exercise
Can’t go outside because its unsafe in the area
Medications
ex. Steroids
ex. Antidepressants
ex. Insulin
ex. Antipsychotics
ex. Antihistamines
Can make you want to eat more
Can lower metabolism
Some cause Lower energy levels
Some make you hold onto fat
Appropriate Sleep
Children 5 below: 11 hours
Children 5-10: 10 hours
Children 10+: 9 hours
Children who don 't get adequate sleep are 58% more likely to be obese
Lastly, we where shown a video following the lives of two twin boys with completely different lifestyles. Boy #1 ate lots of junk food, stayed up late, spent free time on devices, and didn't participate in sports. Boy #2 ate healthy meals with his family, participated in sports, spent free time at recreational centers in his area, and got adequate sleep. The two boys, despite being twins, had completely different figures and health as Boy #1 had become obese because of his habits.
This visit was extremely informative and our guests were very entertaining. I'd love to meet with them again!
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